II.
‘Earth unto earth;’ ’tis well
That sordid earth should pass to earth again:
In those dark fanes where truth has ceased to dwell,
Why should the shrine remain?
Deep in the dust let all such pass away;
Why should they not?—clay mingles but with clay:
Such is dark Manhood’s prime,
From whose high nature all of Heaven has past,
Whose once pure mould is deeply dyed with crime;
Bound down with fetters fast:
Gone, gone is all of holiness and worth,
And what remains is naught indeed but earth.